


It Only Took a Hurricane

by nerdlife4eva



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Co-workers, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Lifeguards, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Shiro (Voltron), Roommates, Sheith Secret Santa 2018, wrestling in a pool
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 16:06:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17227133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdlife4eva/pseuds/nerdlife4eva
Summary: Keith and Shiro are both managers for the private pools owned and operated by Keith's parents. When another employee fails to properly do his job, they are burdened with cleaning up the mess ahead of a threatening hurricane.Now if they could just clean up the mess of their pining hearts, they would be all set.A lifeguard AU created for theSheith Secret Santa 2018event.





	It Only Took a Hurricane

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Abyssiniana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abyssiniana/gifts).



> This is my Sheith Secret Santa gift for [abyssiniana](https://abyssiniana.tumblr.com)! I really hope you like it!! 
> 
> If you want to talk Voltron or Sheith (minus season 8, because YUCK), please come find me on Twitter or Tumblr!   
> [NeRdLife4Eva Twitter](https://twitter.com/NeRdLife4Eva)  
> [n3rdlif343va Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/n3rdlif343va)

_Every part of Shiro felt warm. The sun burned across his skin, licking his shoulders with its heat and encouraging tiny lines of sweat to run down his back. But it wasn’t his exterior that was particularly hot._

_In front of him stood the star of every one of Shiro’s most tantalizing dreams. Black hair pulled into a sloppy ponytail, tight red bathing suit that sat almost too low to be decent and a perfectly sculpted back that tapered down to the most perfectly proportioned waist. A waist Shiro could encompass with both of his hands without even trying._

_Keith looked over his shoulder, tilting his sunglasses down to give Shiro a playful smile. A wink came next (it always did) and then Keith was turning to call Shiro’s name, to beckon him forward toward the water. It was a siren’s call, destined to lead Shiro to his doom, and yet he followed happily, ready to drown if it meant a moment pressed against Keith’s lips._

“Shiro! Hey, Shiro!”

Jerking out of his dream, Shiro tried to focus blurry eyes on the person standing above him. Dark hair and a soft smile were haloed by the overhead light in Shiro’s room and for a second Shiro found himself reaching a hand to touch the blooming pinkness on the man’s perfect cheek.

“Big guy, get up,” Keith laughed, snagging his roommate’s wrist to pull him into a sitting position. He was not going to acknowledge the way his heart had started to race when Shiro reached for him. Being in love with his best friend and roommate was torture on a normal day, but starting his day off with Shiro softly caressing his cheek was a special level of hell that Keith was positive he couldn’t survive.

Readjusting his blankets, Shiro was thankful that his comforter was thick and their apartment was cold. Blinking in the direction of his bedside clock, Shiro frowned at the time he discovered blaring back at him. “Day off,” he grumbled, rubbing his hand over his face. “Hurricane,” he mumbled, as if it described all of his arguments with one word.

“Yeah, but my dad called. Apparently one of the pools didn’t get properly fortified, his words,” Keith snickered, shaking his head and letting his shaggy hair cover his face. It was nearly impossible not to look at Shiro’s bare chest, especially with the adorable creases created by the bed sheets scattered across his skin. “Anyway, since he has to check the other ones and get back to my mom, he asked us to go take care of it.” In truth, his dad had only asked Keith, but Shiro didn’t need to know that.

Shrugging, Shiro accepted his fate of not going back to sleep. “Alright, I’m up.” Flinging the blankets off his legs, Shiro forcibly shoved the last lingering wisps of his dream to the back of his mind. Reality meant not lusting after his best friend and instead trekking across town to tackle lounge chairs and stray umbrellas. Turning to look at Keith over his shoulder as he took a step toward his dresser, Shiro raised an eyebrow. “You’re buying me breakfast though.”

“As many breakfast burritos as you can eat,” Keith teased. Normally he hated mornings, but an excuse to head to the most isolated one of his father’s thirty pools with only Shiro by his side was giving Keith a spring to his step. He nodded once at Shiro and headed for his own room.

True, Keith would never be bold enough to make a real move, but at least today would be a day of just them working together without the noise of the other lifeguards. (Lifeguards who had become increasingly nosier about the air of romance that they claimed circled himself and Shiro with the same force as the impending hurricane). Then they could come home and ride out the storm buried away inside of their apartment just the two of them. Feeling giddy with the prospect of the next couple of days, Keith found himself whistling as he pulled his own clothes from his dresser.

In his room, Shiro looked at himself in the mirror. The night before he had been cornered by no less than three lifeguards asking him if he was ever going to ask Keith out. Remembering how much he had blushed, rivaled only by how much he stuttered, made Shiro’s cheeks heat. _It’s obvious you two are in love with each other_ , Pidge had said looking at her co-conspirators for supporting nods. He had made an excuse about checking the chlorine levels of the pool and run away from them as they cackled behind him.

Knocking on the frame of Shiro’s door, Keith cocked his head at Shiro’s faraway look. “Ready when you are!” he announced, smiling at Shiro’s dazed expression. “I’ll buy you coffee too. Don’t want you sleepily wandering into the pool.” Telling himself that Shiro definitely wasn’t the cutest human in existence, Keith left with a wave of his hand to wait for Shiro in their common room.

“It’s obvious,” Shiro whispered to himself, the words sticking to his tongue as he listened to Keith’s footsteps. Sighing hard, he grabbed a t-shirt from his drawer and committed himself to another day painfully pining over his insanely clueless best friend.

* * *

 

Keith’s dad had promised that his newest hire would take some of the burden off of Shiro’s and Keith’s shoulders. Despite the uneasy feeling Keith had gotten upon first meeting the guy, his dad had plowed forward claiming that everyone needed a chance. Determined to believe in his father’s decisions, bolstered by the idea that he might get to work with Shiro more often instead of rotating their respective placements, Keith had let his doubts fade.

A decision he regretted as soon as he unlocked the swinging gate of their most exclusive location revealing chaotic piles of chairs, tables still sitting in the everyday positions and umbrellas no one had bothered to close. If they hadn’t come to the rescue, the winds of the hurricane would have surely destroyed every inch of his father’s property. With a low growl, Keith threw his ring of keys onto the front desk, slammed his backpack onto the nearest chair and stalked toward the mess.

For his part, Shiro took the disaster in stride. The hurricane was charted to reach them in a few hours and the efficiency mastered between him and Keith was legendary. There was no task too big for their partnership and Shiro followed his best friend toward the scattered chairs and forgotten tables, rolling his shoulders to stretch his muscles before the required repeated lifting of furniture.

“These guys weren’t even fucking trying!” Keith cursed, hauling a set of chairs toward the storage shed. “I swear, Dad should fire Lotor and all his buddies. This place is a mess!” Huffing his frustrations, Keith stalked back to the lounge chairs which were strewn haphazardly next to the shed, yanking his shirt off as he went.

“Yeah…” Shiro agreed, distracted by the sight of Keith’s biceps flexing as he determinedly carried an unnecessary amount of chairs at the same time. Even with the sun ducking in and out of sight, Keith had for some unknown reason deemed it necessary to be shirtless. Probably to torment Shiro into an early grave, if Shiro had to guess. Shaking his head, Shiro walked back to a table with an umbrella that was barely closed. “And we even wrote out those checklists!”

The wind picked up and attempted to whisk Shiro’s words away before they could reach Keith. “That’s right! I forget he gave our list to everyone. Goddamn it!” Frown growing deeper, Keith violently slammed his armfuls of chairs onto the growing stack inside of the shed. “Seriously that’s just lazy. I told Dad that Lotor was a bad hire, but you can’t tell him anything!”

“Must be hereditary,” Shiro smirked, laughing fully when Keith shoved his shoulder. Teetering too close to the pool’s edge, Shiro steadied himself by tipping the umbrella in his arms toward the ground. It accidentally clipped the back of Keith’s legs, knocking Keith forward toward the grass.

Kicking out, Keith purposely whiffed the fabric of the umbrella with his foot. “Watch where you’re swinging that thing.” Despite his frustration, he could feel his anger fading when Shiro laughed again. Although it sucked to do all the work left behind by lazy morons, Keith couldn’t deny that working alongside of his best friend made the task infinitely more tolerable.

Unlike the days when the sun was shining and families crowded toward the relief of the cool pool water, there were no people to stand between them now. Normally, they worked side by side often scheduling themselves for the same location if they could sneak it past Keith’s dad. When Mr. Kogane looked at the schedule too closely, he would adjust is so his two best managers had to cover separate locations. Shiro always hated those days the most, but loved the nights of crashing on the couch, reunited in shared exhaustion with the man he loved the most.

Without the bustle of other people or the demands on their time, Keith and Shiro were able to quickly clear the furniture from the decks, securing every piece safely inside of the large shed at the back of the property. They made a game of scrambling up the life guard chairs, rescuing whistles and flotation devices alike. Pool rules about running and shouting didn’t apply when they were the only two there, and they screamed taunts and lines of trash talk as they ran around the pool gathering stray noodles and toys.

Giggling, they lined up next to each other at the front entrance, both of them barely skimming the wood of the gate with their fingertips. When Shiro shouted “Go!” they spent the first thirty seconds grappling with each other, both of them trying to halt the other’s forward progress. By the time all of the trash cans had been collected and shoved into the back of the kitchen, they were both breathless with exertion and laughter.

Bending over to brace his hands on his knees, Shiro watched as Keith checked the locks on the service counter windows and added the extra boards to hold them in place. It wasn’t often that their area was hit by extravagant storms, but Keith had learned from years of watching his father and mother make plans for such occasions that all precautionary methods were worth it. Shiro had been given the lesson firsthand by his favorite set of parents and therefore set off from the kitchen to do his own checks on the bolts and screws holding the lifeguard chairs in place. He told himself that his need to leave the kitchen had nothing to do with the way Keith’s back flexed as he leaned over the counter and that he definitely didn’t need space from Keith’s beautifully reddened cheeks. Running a hand through his hair to clear his head, Shiro began his jog around the pool.

After all the entrances and windows were secured, Keith followed through the exit where Shiro had disappeared. He watched his best friend bend over the legs of the elevated chairs, his eyes drawing lines up Shiro’s bare legs to his perfectly shaped ass surrounded in loose basketball shorts. It was unfair how effortlessly sexy Shiro was and Keith could feel the heat rising inside of him. Looking to the sky, he squinted, judging the current speed of the wind and making a decision.

Slowly, Keith moved toward the pool, kicking off his sandals and hooking his thumbs in the waistband of his shorts. He waited until Shiro glanced in his direction, taking a deep breath and shoving his shorts to the ground.

Shiro’s brain shut down, all of his thoughts splintering as Keith abandoned his shorts and walked carefully to the side of the pool in nothing but tiny black briefs. Every outline of Keith’s most intimate regions were highlighted and Shiro was positive that if he tried to speak, it would come out in lust-tangled gibberish. “Are… you… what?” he tried, tongue swollen he is mouth as Keith stretched his arms above his head, toes curling over the edge of the pool.

“Storm’s a ways off yet,” Keith tried to sound casual, a feat almost impossible with the way Shiro’s eyes were trailing over his body. Lance’s comments from the night before, about Shiro’s potential interest in a more _intimate_ and _loving_ relationship sprang to the front of Keith’s mind and he desperately tried to keep his stomach from flipping with the memory. Unable to form another sentence while those distinct memories pounded loudly in his brain, Keith peered toward the water. Leaving any further explanation unsaid, Keith dove in.

The dive was perfect and Shiro momentarily forgot that he was supposed to be checking the security of the final chair. Quickly assessing the last set of bolts, he scrambled to remove his shirt at the same time that he kicked off his sandals. He was thankful that Keith was still under the water when he clumsily tugged down his own shorts, nearly belly-flopping into the pool in his haste. As Keith’s upper body emerged from the water, black hair being pushed away from his face and droplets racing over his skin, Shiro threw himself into the pool with the last ditch effort to save his sanity.

His head broke the surface for only a second before he was being hauled under again by strong fingers wrapped around his ankles. Wiggling to free himself, Shiro came up gasping for air, eyes narrowing as Keith resurfaced with a laugh. “You’re dead,” Shiro growled, shoving his floof back with one hand and diving towards Keith with the other. He refused to acknowledge how adorable Keith’s surprised squeak was, his heart fluttering in his chest as he chased Keith across the pool.

Catching Keith by his slender calf, Shiro yanked him backwards to wrap an arm around Keith’s waist. Their bodies rubbed together, naked skin slicked with water and Shiro did the only thing he could do to preserve his self-control. He lifted Keith and threw him into the air, laughter bursting from both of them as Keith flailed into his landing. Running backwards in the water, Shiro grinned as Keith prowled toward him.

“Who’s dead now, Shirogane.” Stalking forward, Keith used his speed and agility against Shiro’s size, diving toward Shiro and knocking him backwards into the water. Bracing his hands on Shiro’s shoulders, Keith held him under the water, only releasing his hold when Shiro seized him around the thighs.

Wrapping Keith’s legs around his waist, Shiro pushed up from the bottom of the pool and flopped backwards, holding his breath even though he wanted to laugh at the satisfying slap of water against Keith’s back. Going dead weight, he pushed Keith toward the bottom of the pool attempting to hold him underneath the water. His disgruntle noise caused bubbles under the water as Keith slipped out of his grasp.

Popping up to breathe, Keith couldn’t help the crazed laughter that escaped him. Despite the fact that he and Shiro often bantered and even raced over the inflatable obstacle course his dad sometimes rented, their carefree wrestling matches were reminiscent of their childhood and not an activity that had engaged in as adults. It made Keith’s heart feel light and his head feel dizzy with giddiness as he righted himself and made to dive away from Shiro’s next advances. A hand wrapped around his ankle caused him to gasp, swallowing water and coming up sputtering as he landed against Shiro’s chest.

“Oh god, Keith, are you okay?” Shiro’s hands flitted to Keith’s face, fingers dancing over his cheeks while Keith choked on his mouthful of water. “Don’t make me give you mouth to mouth,” he tried to joke, one hand landing on the back of Keith’s head, while the other slid to Keith’s hip.

Silence heavy with Shiro’s words fell between them. Keith’s breath was stuttered now, but not from the pool water he had attempted to inhale. The feeling of Shiro’s fingers resting against his side licked like flames over his skin and Keith couldn’t stop himself from leaning back into Shiro’s hold on his head.

The only sound Shiro could hear was the rushing of his heartbeat in his ears. The wind began to whip around them, adding to the waves they had created with their game, but all Shiro could feel was the warmth of Keith’s body floating chest-to-chest with his own. In a move Shiro would swear was involuntary, his fingers scraped against Keith’s scalp as his eyes dropped to Keith’s lips. “I… Keith… can I-”

A crack of splintering wood ripped through the sky making both of them violently jump as a tree on the other side of the fence lost a sizable branch to the strength of the wind. Rain began to pour, thick sheets of driving droplets, assaulting their heads and shoulders.

“Shit!” They exclaimed at the same time, both of them turning to scramble to the side of the pool. Shoving their way out, Shiro ran for his abandoned clothes while Keith raced for his own. Their shoulders collided when they reached the office entry at the same time, both of them nervously laughing as they stumbled inside and Keith slammed the door shut.

“So much for a few hours,” Shiro said, shaking his head and letting water flick from his hanging hair. He caught the towel Keith threw at him, hastily drying himself as best as he could.

Glancing up, he stared at the side of Keith’s profile and the pinched look of Keith’s eyebrows as he squinted out of the office window. Every version of Keith was beautiful, but none was more stunning than Keith assessing and evaluating a solution, the deep furrow of his brow and pursing of his lips creating a breathtaking portrait of concentration.

“Wind is pretty strong,” Keith muttered, absent-mindedly patting his stomach and thighs dry. His clothes were going to be worthless after the instantaneous soaking they received and Keith briefly contemplated whether he should attempt to dry them before heading home.

Even with the rain steadily pounding the earth in an alarmingly sideways angle, Keith was positive that home was better than being stuck in their present location. Especially with the awkwardness Keith expected to grow after whatever had almost happened between them in the pool. 

Howling winds caused the window in front of him to rattle startling Keith out of his wandering thoughts.  Grabbing the wood panel leaning against the wall and jamming it in place, Keith twisted to reach for the screwdriver lying on the desk.

Silently, Shiro moved to Keith’s side, retrieving the screwdriver before shifting to hold the two sides of the panel so Keith could secure it in place. When Keith’s arm brushed against Shiro’s bare side, he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from audibly reacting. They exchanged a quick look, both of them ducking their heads to avert their eyes from each other’s faces.

Regret, hot and stomach-turning, rolled through Shiro’s stomach as he stepped away from Keith’s side. It had been only a moment of weakness, a flicker of hope that had spurred Shiro to almost ask Keith if he could kiss him. The rain had stopped Shiro from finishing his request, but it hadn’t washed away the proposed intent. Unsure what to do, Shiro fumbled toward the storage closet, retrieving a plastic bag and shoving both his and Keith’s clothes into it.

“I was thinking about drying those,” Keith commented. He watched Shiro’s hands still and then shrugged when Shiro raised an eyebrow at him. “I guess no point since they will only get soaked again.”

Tilting his head, Shiro listened to the driving rain. “Are we going back out there?” That wasn’t necessarily the question Shiro intended to ask, but it was the first one that fell from his brain. If Keith intended to attempt to get home, then Shiro would be there with him every step of the way, weirdness and tension set aside to be dealt with later.

Yanking open the door next to Shiro, Keith rested his hands on his hips and glared at the contents inside of the closet. “We gotta get home. I like cheesy nachos and hot dogs as much as the next guy, but I am not staying stuck here to eat them for two days and sleep on a cot.” Pulling down two sets of hangers, Keith held them up to Shiro’s face. “Minions or Pokemon?”

Trying to process the whiplash of Keith’s last sentences, Shiro glanced between the two sets of themed swimwear. Kids’ nights were an important part of the Kogane Pools brand, but Shiro had not enjoyed the bizarre look of the minion bathing suits, or Lance’s many, many jokes about his Pokeballs. Rolling his eyes, Shiro snagged his Pokemon suit from Keith’s hands and stepped into the swimsuit.

Hooking the hangers back on the rack, Keith shoved on his own bathing suit. “Not going to fight me on driving in this?” He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to push the issue, but the lingering feeling of Shiro’s hands on his skin had Keith itching to release his nervous energy somewhere, even if that somewhere was a useless fight.

“One,” Shiro said, retrieving Keith’s backpack from the desk chair and dropping their bag of wet clothes into it, “I know better than to fight you on something you want to do.” He smiled when Keith snorted, feeling some of the tension release from his belly. “Two, you can drive in anything, both of us know that. Remember that blizzard the year we went skiing in Canada?”

“As long as I have my co-pilot,” Keith winked, grabbing his keys from the desk and bowing his head to hide his smile at Shiro’s wide grin.

Keith did remember that blizzard, and the treacherous hike back to their car from the cross country path followed by the scariest drive of Keith’s life. Shiro had never doubted Keith’s ability though, helping to navigate even as the wind, ice, and snow had tried to throw them from the side of the mountain multiple times.

Maybe Keith was imagining the strangeness between them now, but if he wasn’t, there was no better way to snap them out of it than a death-defying drive in the middle of a hurricane.

Resting his hand against the handle of the office door, Keith looked over his shoulder. “Ready for this?” he asked, offering his open palm and willing himself not to overthink it when Shiro wrapped their fingers together.

“With you? Always,” Shiro confirmed, swallowing against the lump in his throat when their hands locked perfectly together.

Nodding in unison, they pushed out of the office door. Only letting go of each other when Keith paused to lock the gate, they immediately found themselves reaching for the other’s hand again, running toward the car and slamming inside.

Taking a deep breath, Keith turned the key and secured his grip on the steering wheel. Nerves ramped up inside of him, but a firm weight on his shoulder had him settling.

Shiro squeezed Keith’s shoulder and whispered, “Just think, when we get home, we can make mac and cheese.”

Tossing his head back in a quick laugh, Keith appreciated Shiro’s goofiness as he put the car in reverse and prepared to drive through the storm.

Although neither of them was willing to acknowledge it, both of them let the thought of their moment in the pool continue to swim through their minds.

* * *

 

“Fuck! Keith! Tree!” Gritting his teeth, Shiro pointed out of the windshield, leaning toward Keith when he jerked the car to avoid the falling foliage. The car rocked dangerously, the wind pushing on it from all sides and the water rising on the street hampering the grip of the tires on the road.

“Thanks!” Knuckles white on the steering wheel, Keith maneuvered around the tree as it crashed to the ground, careful to control his speed as the water slapped against his wheel wells. If it had been anyone else, Keith would have felt the sting of criticism or sour drip of doubt in his stomach, but with Shiro it was simply like they were sharing one pair of eyes.

Scanning the terrain in front of them, Shiro noted the swirl of water pooling near a storm drain. “Avoid the right, it’s too deep.”

“Got it,” Keith confirmed, changing his path according to Shiro’s suggestion.

Feeling Keith guide the car to the left, Shiro couldn’t help the tug of his smile. Although what they were doing was recklessly foolish and would result in a lecture from Keith’s mom later, Shiro couldn’t help the surge of adrenaline coursing through him. Sneaking a peek at Keith, Shiro saw the determined smirk on Keith’s face and felt his heart slip even further toward the man in the driver’s seat.

A loud bang made Shiro startle, jumping in his seat and hitting his head on the ceiling of the car. Holding the top of his head, Shiro glared out of his window, snarling at the trashcan that had flown into it. “Seriously, can no one prepare properly for a storm?”

“Are you okay?” Keith was torn between keeping his eyes on the road and desperately wanting to ensure Shiro’s safety. Steadying his left hand on the steering wheel, he reached out with his right, letting his fingers comb through Shiro’s hair. “No blood,” he mumbled, letting his fingers trail over Shiro’s head for longer than necessary.

His head throbbed from where he had head-butted the ceiling, but Shiro couldn’t concentrate on the pain with Keith caressing his scalp the way he was. Sighing, Shiro forgot he was supposed to be navigating and let himself lean into the touch. A sharp jerk of the car had him snapping out of it, catching himself on the dashboard as Keith slammed his hand back onto the steering wheel.

“Hold on!” Keith yelled, curling his fingers around the vinyl of his steering wheel cover and setting his jaw. The car had hit something hiding under the rushing water and it began to fishtail, kicking up waves on either side of them. Eyes narrowing to the view outside of his windshield, Keith assessed the visible portions of the road in front of them and hastily worked to gain control of the car.

Gripping the dashboard, Shiro could see Keith’s plan, the front of the car aimed for the highest part of the road while the back continued to try to pull them off course. They were lucky no one else was stupid enough to be driving in this weather leaving them a clear path to maneuver as needed.

Even with the rain pouring in thick sheets, Keith could see the entrance to their apartment parking lot. “Here goes nothing,” he declared, guiding the car into a turn and working with the current of the water to guide it into a parking space. Switching off the engine, Keith slumped back into his seat and turned to grin at Shiro.

Returning Keith’s wild smile, Shiro felt a decision snap into place inside of his mind. Not giving himself a chance to chicken out, Shiro leaned over the center console and pressed a kiss to Keith’s lips. “You did it.” He spoke the words barely an inch from Keith’s lips, waiting to see if Keith would push him away, his heart thundering bruising beats into his chest.

“ _Wow_ ,” was all Keith could bring himself to say, surging forward to kiss Shiro. His mind went hazy with an overwhelming sense of perfection washing over every nerve in Keith’s body.

The car rocked back and forth with the strength of the wind, causing them to painfully knock their heads together, both of them pulling apart to groan. Catching each other’s eyes, they began to laugh, ignoring the rain pounding against the car as they slumped onto each other’s shoulders.

“How long?” Keith hiccupped in between his laughter, twisting awkwardly to pull his keys from the ignition and turning away from the sight of a river of water running down the front of his car. The increasing cold of the rain and wind looked miserable in comparison to the warmth he found shining in Shiro’s eyes.

“How long have I wanted to kiss you?” Shiro asked, waiting until Keith gave him a brief nod before cocking his head and pretending to contemplate the question. “Since I was… I dunno… fourteen? Maybe fifteen? What year was your birthday when your dad let you have the Galra location for your party?”

Stunned, Keith gawked at Shiro, realizing only when Shiro raised an eyebrow that he was expected to give an answer. “Um… I was turning thirteen… so you would have been fifteen I guess.” Keith could clearly remember that party, when Shiro had shown up with his dark hair freshly cut and his neon purple bathing suit hugging his newly matured body. He had a well-loved picture of the two of them still framed on his bedside from that exact day.

“Yeah, so then I guess.” Shiro blushed, jumping slightly when the car rocked again. “Umm… you…?” He told himself it was silly to be hesitant to ask, considering Keith’s gaze was currently wandering between Shiro’s lips and his eyes, fueling the desire that had been stirring inside of him since their wrestling match.

The roar of the wind had them both turning to look outside, watching as branches and other debris blew across the parking lot. “Tell you what…” Keith unhooked his seatbelt, reaching back to grab his backpack, “If you beat me inside, I’ll tell you… if I beat you inside, my secret is safe forever.” Springing from the car, Keith slammed his door shut, sprinting across the parking lot with his backpack banging against his side as Shiro’s shouts tried to reach him through the swirling wind.

He barely got the apartment door unlocked when Shiro was barreling into his back, growling about Keith’s unfairness and tackling Keith to the ground just inside their warm apartment.

Landing with a thud, Shiro kicked his foot out to close their door, sprawling himself over Keith’s chest with a wicked grin. “Tell me…” he narrowed his eyes at Keith’s teasing smile, “or else!” Grasping Keith’s sides, Shiro began to tickle his best friend, loving the way Keith’s laughter filled the space around them.

On a day that began with a dream, Shiro felt lucky beyond words to have it end with the beautiful reality of Keith’s fingers curling into the front of his shirt to guide Shiro into a laughing kiss.

And as the stormed raged on, Shiro and Keith finally pulled themselves from the floor, prepared to spend the next few days lost in their own little world, navigating all the best parts of their new relationship.

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed so I am sorry for any mistakes!! 
> 
> If you liked this, please check out my other Sheith fanfictions:  
> [A Wild Bearded Shiro Appears](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17054420) \- Shiro participates in No Shave November. RIP Keith (college roommates AU)  
> [Unwritten](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15583593/chapters/36179688) a Sheith fic about Author Keith and Fanboy Shiro, filled with mutual pining and reuniting of childhood friends :) - complete  
> [Mine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16302947) \- a one-shot of married Sheith getting jealous at a party and solving it with sexy times  
> [Where We Belong](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15730515) \- fluffy post Season 7 Domestic Sheith escaping for a weekend away to Keith's old shack  
> [Our Space](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16574111) \- Domestic Sheith one-shot in which Shiro decorates their room  
> [Disaster You, Disaster Me, Disaster We](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16513202/chapters/38678120) \- a Sheith blind date AU with a twist  
> [Come on Baby, Frost My Cake](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16829314) \- a Sheith set up fic at Hunk's Singles Cake Decorating class (shenanigans ensure)  
> [No Secrets Between Us](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13860900) \- silly crack fic about the team finding out that Sheith are dating


End file.
